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Students try to banish Catholic chaplain from campus for anti-gay stance

Two gay seniors at George Washington University say they feel alienated because the chaplain at George Washingtonâ€™s Newman Center rejects homosexuality, and they arenâ€™t going to take it anymore.

The seniors, Damian Legacy and Blake Bergen, have announced a coordinated campaign to rid the campus of the Roman Catholic priest, reports The GW Hatchet, the schoolâ€™s independent student newspaper.

They also assert that 12 or more students have quit the Newman Center in recent years because they canâ€™t tolerate Father Greg Shafferâ€™s ardent anti-gay â€“ and, for the record, anti-abortion â€” beliefs.

Shaffer has worked for five years at George Washingtonâ€™s Newman Center. He told the Hatchet that religion and unrestricted speech â€śplay a vital role at a diverse university like GW.â€ť

Legacy and Bergen say they are primarily upset about the counseling Shaffer offers. They say he urges students who have homosexual feelings to lead a life of celibacy.

Catholic Church doctrine maintains that homosexual desire isnâ€™t a sin, but acting on that desire is, according to the website Catholic.com.

Legacy told the Hatchet that he spent considerable time at the Newman Center during his first two years at George Washington. He was an altar server at mass. He believed that he would become a Catholic priest after graduating.

All that changed, though, when Legacy told Shaffer that he and Bergen had entered a homosexual relationship. Shaffer allegedly charged Legacy with being immoral and lacking in faith.

â€śTo have my faith leader view me that way, just because of one piece of the way that God made me, and to think that one part is responsible for the destruction of my human dignity, it just didnâ€™tâ€¦I canâ€™t even begin to describe the mental conflict that it creates,â€ť Legacy told the Hatchet.

The two gay seniors are also unhappy about a blog post Shaffer authored back in May 2012, just after President Barack Obama publicly endorsed gay marriage.

â€śAs Vatican II states, God is the author of marriage. He has defined marriage as between a man and a woman,â€ť Shaffer then wrote. â€śEvery single rational person knows that sexual relationships between persons of the same sex are unnatural and immoral. They know it in their hearts.â€ť

The plan to oust Shaffer includes the creation of a video containing the statements of several students who have left GWâ€™s Newman Center. That video, Legacy and Bergen hope, will surely arouse the generally left-leaning campus to anger, thus forcing school officials to act.

Other aspects of the proposed GW Newman Center insurgency include filing a formal complaint with the administration and conducting a series of prayer vigils outside the center.

Legacy and Bergen will also distribute a letter to high-ranking administrators. According to The Hatchet, the letter will cite academic studies connecting homophobic behavior to loss of appetite, insomnia and other detrimental psychological consequences.

Finally, Legacy will request that GWâ€™s Student Association defund the Newman Center (which is affiliated with the school but officially part of the Roman Catholic Church). This year, the Center reportedly collected $10,000 in funding.

Last semester, Legacy presented a report to the schoolâ€™s Office for Diversity and Inclusion explaining that other schools, such as New York University, vet and evaluate religious leaders before allowing them to work with campus-affiliated groups.

What is the Newman Center? If it is officially part of the Church then I don't really feel the students have mug recourse. If it serves in an official capacity for the University then the school might need to determine if their anti-discrimination policies (assuming they have some) are being upheld.

I hope you're sitting down, Kitty, because I think I am going to agree with your opinion about this issue. By the way, is GW a Catholic university?

I personally dislike and disagree with the priest's views, but they seem in line with (my understanding of) RC policy on homosexuality, premarital sex, etc. He is counseling these students in a religious setting about their religious future under the tenets of his faith.

There is something about the story that I am missing, I guess. I don't understand why this would be a reason to defund the center or get rid of the chaplain.

It would, however, be a god reason for the students to evaluate whether the Catholic faith is the best religion for them.

What is the Newman Center? If it is officially part of the Church then I don't really feel the students have mug recourse. If it serves in an official capacity for the University then the school might need to determine if their anti-discrimination policies (assuming they have some) are being upheld.

Who is being discriminated against? I would seem the priest is the one who is being discriminated against for not condoning a homosexual lifestyle.

I mean...it doesn't appear that this priest is going out of his way to harrass these boys-or any honosexual on campus. If he were harrassing people I might see their point, but...did they expect he would welcome it with open arms? No...they should not be able to demand any kind of recourse against the priest.

He actually seems to be a very faithful Catholic Priest. He is only saying the actual beliefs of the Church. The Priest has not said anything that is out of line.

Quoting 12hellokitty:

Quoting LauraKW:

What is the Newman Center? If it is officially part of the Church then I don't really feel the students have mug recourse. If it serves in an official capacity for the University then the school might need to determine if their anti-discrimination policies (assuming they have some) are being upheld.

Who is being discriminated against? I would seem the priest is the one who is being discriminated against for not condoning a homosexual lifestyle.

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